Anne Askew

Anne Askew (1521-16 July 1546) was an English writer, poet, and Protestant martyr who was tortured in the Tower of London and burnt at the stake.

Biography
Anne Askew was born in Lincolnshire, England in 1521, the daughter of a wealthy landowner. She was a devout Protestant, studying the Bible and memorizing its verses. She particularly criticized transubstantiation, pointing out that the holy bread (which was said to be the body of Jesus after a Catholic priest blessed it) would, if kept in a box for three months, rot away as if it were nothing. In 1545, she was arrested for her preaching, and she was the only women to have been tortured at the Tower of London. On 18 June 1546, she was convicted of heresy and condemned to be burned, and she was burned at the stake at Smithfield on 16 July.